The present invention relates to buildings for use in storing personal effects, and particularly to yard buildings. More particularly, the invention relates to yard buildings having a modular floor structure suitable for use as a pallet during shipment of the yard building to the ultimate consumer and a roof covered by vinyl sheets of translucent house siding material.
Yard buildings have become popular in recent years because they provide neat, secure, and weatherproof storage. Many homeowners purchase them for storing lawn equipment, bicycles, and other household items they don't want in the house or garage.
Typically, the yard buildings are sold to be assembled in the purchaser's location. The manufacturer typically pre-cuts the studs, rafters, and joists, and supplies doors and panels to be used as roof panels, floor panels, and side walls. The manufacturer also typically supplies the roofing shingles. These pieces are typically picked up at the manufacturer's plant by a carpenter and carried by truck to the purchaser's location to be assembled on site.
Taken together, the parts and pieces of the prior art buildings add up to a lot of weight. The shipping weight of the building directly affects the shipping charges for sending a kit to the purchaser's location, and therefore directly affects the cost of the kit to the consumer. Thus, there is a need to provide a yard building with a structure that is strong, rigid, and attractive and yet light in weight for shipment and handling.
Manufacturers have sought for years to reduce the shipping weight of yard buildings through the implementation of various weight reduction measures. Unfortunately, some weight reduction measures can potentially compromise the structural strength and rigidity of the final building. Preferably, any weight reduction measures undertaken do not compromise the strength and rigidity of the final building. A kit that maintains the strength and rigidity of the finished building while reducing the overall shipping weight of the building kit shipped to the purchaser's home would be a substantial improvement over conventional yard buildings.
Another problem encountered by yard buildings is temperature buildup inside the building when the building is closed. Generally, the temperature buildup is due to sunlight beating down directly on the dark, conventional shingle roof, the heat from the roof being transferred to the interior of the building. Various ventilation methods have been tried, but they rely on mother nature, in the form of wind, to cool the building after it becomes hot. A white or light colored vinyl roof that reduces the amount of heat transferred into the interior on the building, and especially one that reduces the shipping weight of the kit, would be welcomed by manufacturers and consumers alike.
According to the present invention, a yard building having side walls and a longitudinal axis includes a floor structure coupled to the side walls and a plurality of rafters coupled to the side walls and to each other to provide a roof structure. A plurality of longitudinally extending vinyl sheets is attached to the roof structure. Each vinyl sheet includes an upper longitudinal edge and a lower longitudinal edge, and each lower longitudinal edge includes means for engaging the upper longitudinal edge of an adjacent sheet.
In preferred embodiments, the building includes a starter panel extending longitudinally along the lower edge of the roof structure. The starter panel is attached to a top plate which is conventionally coupled to the side wall. The starter plate overhangs at least a portion of a side wall and includes means for receiving the engaging means of the lowest vinyl sheet on the roof structure.
The roof structure further includes a pair of roof sections joined together to form a peaked ridge. The vinyl sheets extend along the roof sections and are joined to each other, lower edge-to-upper edge, to cover the roof structure. Both roof sections include an uppermost vinyl sheet which meet at the peaked ridge. A ridge clip extends parallel to the vinyl sheets and is coupled to the uppermost vinyl sheet of each roof section, thereby sealing the peaked ridge.
Advantageously, the vinyl sheets can be made from translucent vinyl siding material or white vinyl which is somewhat translucent. Translucent material allows some light inside the building, yet reduces the heat buildup in the building. At the same time, vinyl sheets reduce the weight of the roof sections to provide a reduced shipping weight for the building kit.
The floor structure includes a plurality of floor sections. Each floor section includes a plurality of intermediate joist members, a plurality of side joist members, and a plurality of outer joist members. The intermediate joist members are positioned in parallel spaced-apart relation to each other, and the plurality of side joist members is attached to the intermediate joist members. The side joist members are positioned in parallel space-apart relation to each other and are oriented orthogonally to the intermediate joist members. The plurality of outer joist members is attached orthogonally to the intermediate joist members, and the plurality of side rail members is attached orthogonally to the side joist members and the outer joist members. Advantageously, the floor sections are sized to provide shipping pallets for shipment of the building to a purchaser's location.
According to one aspect of the invention, the side rail members have a first height dimension and the intermediate and side joist members have a second height dimension that is less than the first height dimension. The outer joist members have a third height dimension that is less than the first height dimension. The reduced height dimensions of the joist members cooperate to reduce the weight of the floor structure. Thus, the invention advantageously provides reduced weight shipping pallets.
By providing a roof made from translucent vinyl sheets, the present invention reduces the heat buildup inside the yard building and reduces the shipping weight of the building. By providing floor sections having predetermined dimensions and members with reduced size dimensions, the present invention further reduces the shipping weight. Sizing the floor sections to be used as pallets provides integral shipping pallets and further reduces the shipping weight and overall cost of the building.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.